Kendrick Lamar aims to infuse his Los Angeles hip-hop flavor into New Orleans while staying true to his storytelling roots for Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime performance.

“Being in the now and being just locked-in to how I feel and the energy I have now, that’s the LA energy for me,” he said Thursday at a press conference hosted by Apple Music. “That’s something I wanted to carry over to New Orleans and for the world to see. This is me. This is Kendrick Lamar, 37 years old, and I still feel like I’m elevating, I’m still on a journey.”

The rap megastar will take the Super Bowl stage fresh off a Grammy triumph, where he claimed two of the night’s biggest awards — song and record of the year — for his diss track “Not Like Us.”

When asked what viewers can expect, Lamar answered: “Storytelling. I think I’ve always been very open about storytelling through all my catalog and my history of music. And I’ve always had a passion about bringing that on whatever stage I’m on.”

Lamar will be bringing hip-hop back to the NFL’s championship game, where he performed as a guest artist with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent and Eminem in 2022. On Sunday, he becomes the first solo hip-hop artist to headline the halftime show.

“It reminds me of the essence and the core response of rap and hip-hop and how far it can go,” he said. “It puts the culture at the forefront, where it needs to be and not minimized to just a catchy song or verse. This is a true art form, so to represent it on this type of stage is like everything that I’ve worked for and everything that I believe in as far as the culture.”

SZA will join him but few other details were revealed, bowing to a tradition in which headliners keep their plans secret. Rihanna waited until her performance in 2023 to reveal she was pregnant.

‘SNL’ taps stars for 50th anniversary special: The “Saturday Night Live” 50th anniversary special will include guest appearances by Steve Martin, Sabrina Carpenter, Bad Bunny, John Mulaney, Dave Chappelle and numerous other stars who’ve been associated with the show over the years.

Scarlett Johansson, who is married to Weekend Update co-host Colin Jost, will appear on the “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” that will air Feb. 16. It’s a three-hour live telecast honoring “SNL’s” 50th anniversary.

Other guests announced by NBC on Thursday include Adam Driver, Ayo Edebiri, Paul McCartney, Tom Hanks, Miley Cyrus, Robert De Niro, Martin Short and Kim Kardashian.

The special will air two days after the “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert” livestreams on Peacock. Bad Bunny and Cyrus are scheduled to perform during that show. The show will be hosted by Jimmy Fallon, and other performers include Lady Gaga, Post Malone, Chris Martin, David Byrne, Eddie Vedder and more.

Feb. 8 birthdays: Composer John Williams is 93. Actor Nick Nolte is 84. Actor Mary Steenburgen is 72. Author John Grisham is 70. Singer Vince Neil is 64. Actor Missy Yager is 57. Actor Susan Misner is 54. Actor Seth Green is 51. Bassist Phoenix is 48. Actor Cecily Strong is 41. Musician Anderson .Paak is 39.